


this endless universe

by xandermin



Series: across the universe [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: PINING KEITH, it's fucking gay, lance is too good, mlm author, someone help him, they stargaze
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 21:45:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10544844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xandermin/pseuds/xandermin
Summary: Lance bumped his shoulder against Keith's. It was a tiny gesture, a gesture that really meant nothing in this endless universe. Yet it made Keith's heart stutter.





	

 

Sleepless;

His whole body ached from the fight simulator, and he was still sleepless.

He felt the cold floor of the castle under his bare feet as he walked to the observatory. He held his blanket and pillow under his arm in case it got cold. He didn't know how to fiddle with the environmental panels in the castle. The environmental controls were still a mystery to him.

One of the few things he knew how to do was open the observatory dome. He entered the large circular room, and turned on the control panel on the wall. Once the ceiling began to retract to expose the insides of the large glass dome, he moved to the centre of the room, dropped the pillow and blanket, and laid down on his back.

The view always changed because they were always moving. Or, well, now they stood still, hidden in the outskirts of a lawless galaxy filled with alien pirates and bounty hunters.

So maybe the view would stay the same for a short while.

A large dense nebula filled the majority of the window. It was purple with swirls of blue and red, Keith could see stars in all stages of life, from blue to red to yellow to white – stars had always fascinated Keith. Even now, as he'd seen more of the universe than any human back on Earth, the thought of stars as large as red hyper giants was still baffling to him. They were all so far away now, their light no more than a faint purple glow in the observatory.

“Keith?” a familiar voice whispered.

Keith abruptly sat up, he hadn't heard Lance enter the room. He turned to see the taller teen stand in the open doorway, wearing some sort of altean tunic that stopped just above his knees, and a pair of grey socks.

“You sleep with socks?” Keith blurted.

“I – yeah man, it's cold,” Lance replied.

Keith huffed. “Gross.” He turned and laid back down.

He could hear Lance's sock clad feet padding gently towards him until Lance laid down beside him, crossing his arms behind his head.

They stayed like that in silence for a good while. The subtle whirr of the ship and their breaths were the only sounds filling the air.

“That's pretty freaking stunning,” Lance spoke quietly, referring to the view.

Keith swallowed thickly, acutely aware of Lance's shoulder filling the space right beside his own. He turned his head slightly, planning to only sneak a quick glance at Lance, but froze when he saw how the purple swirls from space danced in the blue of Lance's irises, the tiny reflections of stars swimming like glittering freckles. The dim light from above accentuated his sharp jaw and highlighted the blunt point of his nose.

And perhaps that was when it all culminated; in the quiet under the stars.

Keith tore his eyes away and looked back up at the nebula above.

“Keith?” Lance asked, voice uncertain.

“Yes?” Keith replied without moving his eyes.

“Do you ever feel like you aren't enough?”

Keith turned to look at Lance with wide eyes. He found Lance watching him with a weary expression, eyes darker now that they weren't in direct light.

“I … think everyone feels like that sometimes,” Keith said. Lance looked back up at the sky.

“I suppose,” he said. He sounded tired.

Keith's brows furrowed. “Why do you ask?”

Lance hesitated, lips slightly parted and glossy eyes moving over the view, causing the colours reflected in his eyes to shift like kaleidoscope pieces.

“I wanted to know if you felt that way -” _slight pause_ “- because it sometimes seems like you can do anything.”

Keith's frown deepened. “That's not true,” he said.

Lance turned his head to look at him with questioning eyes. Keith took a breath before speaking.

“I can fly, and – and I can fight and stay alive but … 's not really much to brag about.” He let his shoulders relax into the blanket beneath him.

It was Lance's turn to frown. “That's not true, your fighting and piloting isn't just good, it's – and don't ever quote me on this –. _incredible_. It's almost like you were made for this, being a paladin and all.” He turned his gaze upwards again. “I'm just some kid who happened to be just smart enough to get a scholarship, and even then it was initially as a freaking cargo pilot.”

Keith observed him as he spoke, committing each expression to memory.

Lance continued.

“I was the middle kid y'know, smack dab in the middle of a group of seven, and my older siblings all do some pretty cool stuff. Like my oldest sister is a neurosurgeon, my older brother just made the national team before we left, and my other sister has a full scholarship to law school in New York.” He breathed in, then smiled fondly. “The younger ones are pretty great too – the twins want to be actresses, and Daniel is only eight but he can already paint like the best of 'em.”

The tender fondness in Lance's voice made Keith smile. He had heard Lance use that tone of voice when talking about Pidge or trying to calm Hunk's anxiety, but it was a rare sound to Keith's ears.

Lance sighed. “I don't know why I'm telling you this.”

“I don't mind,” Keith said, the words came out softer than he had expected. Lance looked at him with a hint of surprise on his face.

“I guess,” Lance hesitated, “I guess I just feel replaceable. Like I'm a bridge people cross to get to their final destination, y'know? Like, I … sort of fear that I won't ever be anyone's final destination … does that make sense?”

Their eyes met, and Keith realised that they had crossed a line in their relationship, had entered a new level of closeness, and he could either kick the ball away and retreat. Or he could catch it.

“I – I don't think of you as a bridge,” he said, voice uncertain with honesty. “I can't imagine anyone else in your place – you're always the one coming up with quick plans during missions and stuff, you're like, really smart. “ Keith felt his face flush in the dark. “And you're amazing at negotiating, and it's like you always know what to do. And -” _pause_ “- and you mean a lot to – to all of us, a-and to me, you mean a lot. To me.” He cleared his throat and looked back up.

A dense moment of silence followed, in which Keith could feel Lance's eyes on him. Keith kept his eyes on the view.

“Thanks Keith,” Lance finally said. His voice carried the same softness as it did when he spoke of his family, but now it held a pinch of wonder.

Keith shrugged. He took a breath through his nose. “You're not a bridge to me,” he said.

A tiny moment of silence passed before Lance spoke.

“You're a good friend.”

Keith turned his head to look at him with raised brows. Lance was watching him with a pensive expression. They were sharing the same air.

“Thought I was your rival,” Keith said jokingly, wanting the flush on his cheeks to cool.

“Y'know what they say, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer,” Lance said, bumping his shoulder against Keith's. It was a tiny gesture, a gesture that really meant nothing in this endless universe. Yet it made Keith's heart stutter. Lance's pupils had dilated slightly, creating deep bottomless pools, and Keith felt himself endlessly falling like Alice fell into Wonderland, with no way of knowing when or if he'd reach the bottom.

 

..

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me on tumblr @ [mcclaln](http://mcclaln.tumblr.com/)


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